What comes to your mind when you hear the term hacking, cyber security or online theft? If you’re like most people, you probably associate the above terms with digital criminals targeting financial institutions such as banks or retailers to obtain credit card information. Sure, you’re probably right, but cybersecurity is more than just stealing credit card information, it can also be about medical identities.

Sadly, cybercriminals are also targeting the health domain, particularly the Electronic Medical Records (EMR). A study by Ponemon Institute estimates that more than 2.3M Americans have either fallen victim or know someone who has lost their medical identity during or before 2014. But that just a tip of the iceberg, further reports by the same institution indicate a sharp rise in the malicious activity with no signs of slowing down.

However, this is not to mean that the EMR is inherently unsafe and incapable of protecting patient information. In fact, it plays a vital role in securing your electronic medical record data systems. Here are just some of the ways that cloud-based EMR systems keep your system safe.

1. Device encryption

Encryption is the most effective way of achieving data security. Data encryption entails translating data into a secret code. Also known as a ciphertext, encrypted data is jumbled or scrambled, and can only be deciphered or read using a special “key” made available to authorized users.

Also, since the encrypted data is sent over an SSL connection, the information cannot be tampered or forged in any way without both parties becoming aware of any malicious activity.

2. Access management

Access control tools such as passwords and pins are vital in any security system. Your entire EMR system must not only be kept in an encrypted form, but it must also be secured by a password. When developing a password, ensure that user-level access is based on the role of each person so that whenever there’s an internal breach, your organization can easily trace the culprit.

Also, ensure that incorporate unique password-protected access that is HIPAA compliant, and employ strict password guidelines that ensure complete login security.

3. Auto data backups

Data is the most important aspect of your Health Information System. You should always have a contingency plan for recovering system failure in case an attacker crashes your system or data is corrupted or wiped out by a hardware issue.

Fortunately, EMR has your back, thanks to its automatic backup that feature multiple replication processes to boot.

4. Audit trail

Depending on the industry, an audit trail may have different definitions. However, one of the basic and simple definitions of the audit trail is a record that shows who accessed the system, when the system was accessed and what operations were performed. Audit trail plays a crucial aspect in fraud detection and prevention in any organization.

To put in another way, an audit trail archives the tracks of how people in your organization are using the shared systems and can help in deterring cyber criminals.

5. Specialized staff

Employing the right staff in your healthcare organization can mean the difference between keeping your patient’s information secured or exposing your patient to medical identity theft, and this is why you should always consult the experts before making any move.

If you’re looking for a deluxe of health care options in the healthcare security system including having customer service reps that can protect your patient’s health information, IT solutions for healthcare insitutions by TrueNorthITG is the ultimate destination.

6. Data centers

Having data centers is not just about ensuring you’re HIPAA compliant, but it’s also securing your patient’s information. State of the art data centers provides multi-layered access control that includes defensible perimeter,24/7 security guards, biometric screening and video surveillance.